The Blizzard of ’74

We’re about to celebrate Thanksgiving, and once again forecasted blizzards threaten to strand travelers in airports. It’s been my opinion for many years that it’s foolish to even try to travel during the holidays. Have your Thanksgiving meal in July and eliminate the threat of blizzards!

I’ve never had to travel far to join my family for the holidays. For many years we all lived in close proximity in Pennsylvania. Now we all live in five houses on ten acres here in Georgia. 

I’ve seen my share of snowstorms and driven in blinding snow trying to get home from work before the roads drifted shut. I don’t miss those snowy roads, but I have to admit when I watch the videos of blizzards in the northeast I feel a bit of nostalgia. My favorite memories are of sitting in our warm farmhouse listening to the wind howl around us. I loved to go to the windows to watch the snow pouring down and the drifts between the house and the barn grow deeper and deeper.

For me as a kid, it was an adventure. Especially when the announcement was made on the radio that “All schools are closed.” Here in Georgia schools close, too, but often it’s because someone mentioned the word snow and not necessarily because it would actually snow.

One of our family adventures came In the winter of 1974. My brother was being discharged from the Navy and had moved his family from Norfolk to a trailer about ten miles away from us in Pennsylvania. My brother had to complete his discharge at the base, so after Thanksgiving he returned to Norfolk. His wife, two young daughters, and his wife’s mother and aunt moved into their trailer.

A blizzard was in the forecast, but no one expected what was to come. It began snowing heavily early on Sunday, December 1st. By late afternoon the snow was rapidly accumulating, and the wind had raised. Blizzard conditions. It got worse as the evening went on. 

Sometime after 7:00 (I remember because I was watching Apple’s Way. Anyone remember that show and teen heartthrob Vince Van Patten? Oops, got sidetracked for a moment.) Sometime after 7:00 Mom looked out the window and saw two four wheel drive trucks driving around our barn. Who in the world could be out in this weather?

We watched one of the men get out of the truck then reach back in and pick up a little girl.

“That looks like Becky,” my mom exclaimed.

Becky is my oldest niece, at that time about 2 ½ years old.

It was Becky. And her baby sister. And her mom and Gamy and Aunt Mabel. We were being invaded.

The men in the trucks had been driving the roads. Doing a little four-wheeling, I suspect. They saw my sister-in-law’s trailer just back from the road in a grove of pine trees. Their electricity had gone out sometime earlier, and the wind was starting to bring down tree branches. The men knew the people in that trailer were in a dangerous situation. 

So they drove in and told Mary Ann they needed to get out of that trailer. Did they have anywhere to go?

The only place they could think of was our house. Mary Ann was distraught that she couldn’t call and let us know because the phones were out (no cell phones, remember?) But they packed up what they needed and piled into the trucks.

I don’t think we ever knew who those kind men (angels?) were. But looking back on the events of the following week those men almost certainly saved my family’s lives.

We got them settled in. My Mom reassured Mary Ann that this was no imposition at all, and we all trooped into the living room to finish watching Apple’s Way. 

Then the lights went out.

They stayed out for the next seven days.

The snowdrifts in our country road were so deep that by the time the snowplows were able to start work on it, even they had trouble getting through the road.

The advantage of living in a country farmhouse is that even without electricity we were comfortable. We had a coal and wood furnace so we were warm. In the kitchen we had an old cook stove where Mom could melt snow for washing up. And we had a propane stove, so we could cook all the home canned and frozen food Mom had put up in the summer.

We had kerosene lanterns for light in the evenings. Not the brightest, but adequate.

And we had a piano for entertainment. In the evenings I played, and they sang.

The only thing that was problematic was water. Our well was accessed by a surface pump located in a  pump house. Every winter we lit a lantern in there to keep the pump from freezing up. But it needed electricity. No electric, no water.

What we did have was a deep spring down the lane near the pasture. I remember Dad rigging up a way to fasten two old three-foot tall metal milk cans to the back of the tractor. He was able to get through the lane and into the spring to get the fresh water, not just for us, but also for our cows. It was a big job, but was evidence of God’s protection and provision during that time.

As a child getting snowed in was exciting. As an adult with responsibilities maybe not so much.

I’d love to get snow in today. As I mentioned, it doesn’t take much to shut everything down here in the south, but that adult thing gets in the way. I still feel the need to cook and clean and wash clothes. How do I get rid of that feeling?

Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.” As we go into Thanksgiving let’s focus less on all the cleaning and cooking and baking we need to do. Before the family arrives, take some time to sit back, read Scripture, pray. Put on some worship music. Count your blessings. Let God fill your heart. The hustle and “snowstorm” of the holiday season will come soon enough. And who knows, maybe taking this quiet time will help you stay calm when Uncle Joe gets annoying!